Movie magic brings Mumbai to Melbourne

North Melbourne’s iconic Errol Street was buzzing with movie stars as it was transformed into a bustling Mumbai for a Hollywood drama.

Hipster Errol Street strip was transformed into a bustling Indian metropolis for A highly anticipated Hollywood drama.

North Melbourne has been given a Mumbai makeover as the hipster Errol Street strip was transformed into a bustling Indian metropolis for the highly anticipated Hollywood drama series Shantaram.

Errol Street’s famous pastel facades were unrecognisable thanks to the magic of Hollywood, with prop masters and set designers pulling out all the stops to transform the road into a vibrant Mumbai market place.

Market stalls remanent of downtown Mumbai, old-fashioned cars and even a bright red double decker bus lined the street, while the old North Melbourne Town Hall received a makeover.

The quintessentially “hip” Melbourne street, known to be frequented by university students, was filled with cast members riding bicycles and sporting saris while filming took place.

Actor Charlie Hunnam on set. Picture: MEDIA-MODE.COM

British actor and Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, who is taking on the lead role of Lin in Shantaram, was also spotted at the North Melbourne filming location.

Filming in the area followed a recent call out by US studio Paramount Pictures for locals with Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Moroccan ethnicities to work as paid extras on the show.

Melbourne was transformed into Mumbai. Picture: MEDIA-MODE.COM

The street transformed into a vibrant Mumbai market place. Picture: MEDIA-MODE.COM

“We are hoping to capture Bombay in the time the book was written, visually capturing all of the various socioeconomic landscape,” the studio said.

Shantaram was adapted from Gregory David Roberts’ 2003 novel of the same name, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict escapes from Pentridge Prison and flees to India.

Errol Street’s famous pastel facades were unrecognisable. Picture: MEDIA-MODE

Other filming is taking place at Docklands Studios. Picture MEDIA-MODE

The 10 part series originally began filming in Australia in October 2019 before moving to India a month later.

Hunnam and the film crew returned to Melbourne for filming in May 2020, but production was halted last year because of Covid.

Production has since resumed in Melbourne, with some filming taking place at Docklands Studios.

Old-fashioned cars and even a bright red double decker bus lined the street. Picture: MEDIA-MODE.COM

The filming of Shantaram was set to inject $46 million into the Victorian economy and generate more than 330 jobs when it was initially announced in 2019, according to Film Victoria.

Shantaram will be available to stream on Apple TV.